Doses come in two units and the equipment follows: a milligram scale for actives weighed under a gram, a kitchen scale for gram-dose ingredients, sealed jars and desiccant to keep all of it honest. Below is the complete bill of materials — no proprietary bundles, no hidden lines.
The kit
| Item | Spec | Street price |
|---|---|---|
| Milligram scale | 0.001 g x 20 g - the Gemini-20 is the standard | ~$25 |
| Kitchen scale | 0.01 g readability - gram-dose ingredients | ~$12 |
| Capsule machine | 24-100 hole, one size per machine | $18-40 |
| Empty capsules | Gelatin or HPMC, size 00 or 0 | ~$15 / 1,000 |
| Mortar & sifter | Glass or ceramic | $5-15 |
| Amber jars + desiccant | Airtight, silica packs | $15-25 |
| Labels + notebook | Contents, batch date, dose math | ~$5 |
The workflow
- 01
Source
Buy single-ingredient bulk powder from a vendor that publishes a batch COA - identity, purity, heavy metals, microbes.
- 02
Weigh
Milligram scale for anything under a gram, kitchen scale above it. Scoops move powder; they don't measure it - density varies batch to batch.
- 03
Mix
Micro-dose actives go in by geometric dilution - blend the small dose into an equal part of base, then keep doubling until uniform.
- 04
Portion
Weigh per serving, or encapsulate, or batch-mix the gram-scale ingredients. Never batch-mix caffeine into a tub.
- 05
Store
Airtight jar, desiccant pack, dark and cool. Citrulline malate and glycerol cake hard in humidity.
- 06
Log
Label every jar with contents, batch date and the per-scoop math. Start under target dose and document.
What a real label owes you
- Every active named with its own dose — a blend total without line items is a hiding place
- Caffeine stated per serving, not buried mid-blend — it's the first line to check on any panel
- Numbers you can weigh yourself — if the dose isn't printed, it can't be verified
- The standard cuts both ways — your own jars get contents, batch date and dose math too
Reading a vendor
- Batch-specific COA from an independent lab - not the vendor's own letterhead
- cGMP facility; NSF or Informed Sport certification if you compete
- Full label disclosure - the vendor's own products shouldn't use prop blends either
- Community standing - r/Supplements and r/Nootropics keep running vendor lists
- Skip AliExpress, eBay and third-party marketplace sellers - the counterfeit history is documented
The legal line
Mixing for yourself is unregulated - you're a consumer preparing food-adjacent powders. The moment you sell a blend you manufactured, you're a supplement producer: FDA 21 CFR Part 111 cGMPs, facility registration, Supplement Facts labeling, adverse-event reporting. In Canada, commercial sale needs an NPN product licence.
This site's guides are informational reference, not medical advice - doses cited are the ranges used in published research.